Can-washing machine



Dec. 16, 1930. KRAUSE 1,785,352

CAN WASHING MACHINE Filed March 8, 19 28 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Hf? r5125:

Dec.l -6.-.l930.= 'HJKRAUSE 1,185,352

CAN WASHING MACHINE Filed March 8, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 w m R Q q 7. k2

q/k/vw az, 15121231255 Deb. 16, 1930. KRAUSE CAN WASHING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 8, 1928 III u/w/jw 52212-81255 Patented Dec. 16 1930 UNIT D Y STATES PATENT macs,

I-IERMANN KRAUSEOF MENOMONEE FALLS, WISCONSIN, AssIGNon 'ro s'rour MANU- rac'run ne COMPANY, OF MENo oNnnFALLs, WISCONSIN, A'CQRPORATION or wIsooNsIN Application filed March 8,

r This invention chines. p In washing cans, particularly milkycans, it'has been found that theseccans are fre-v quently diflicult to cleanyas'they have fad; hering matter both outside and} inside, and asltheir restricted neck portionsrmake it difrelates to can washin'g maficult for the operator to thoroughlyfclean" 1 them. It is well knownthat these cans are placed on railway station jplatforms,]aare sometimes set directly upon the ground in muddy localities, and also are frequently left only spraysthe. cans, but also, quickly sub-i merges them so that the water rushes into; the can in a violent manner and causes in}- numerable swirls andeddies in the can, thus; insuring a: complete and thorough-washing ofthe can. a g 1 i H "I Further objects "are to provide j a machine which is adapted torsimultaneously handle a largenumber of cans and so arranged that while one can is passingithrough one SQ ill! tion and-one spray, another can is being op erated upon n another solution, and so -,on,,-:

T for any required number of -treatments,ythe machine being so constructedthat adequate time for draining is allowed between; each, of the soaking or rinsing operations without however in any wayislowing up theoperation of the machine, as the cans are continuously received by, anddischargedwfrom,the machine while othersare being operated upon;

Further objects are] to provide amachine which is adapted to wash thetops ofithe-oans may be passed in ,a continuous manner' from. the op passed;

while the cans themselveslarebeing' cleaned,

in which aplurality-of EQtIary "cages are fpro-f oAN-Wasrrme mamas 1928. Serial No. 260,160.

vided for receiving a pluralityof cans and passing the'cans to and-from other cages. i

. Further objects are to provide a very compact machine which although handling a large number of cans simultaneously,.:never-. theless occupies a very small space. 7 -An; embodiment of the invention is'shown in the accompanying drawings in which r 1 Figure 1 is a front View of the machine; Figure 2 is a View corresponding to Figure l with a-portion-of the casing sectioned oft;

' F igure3 is a side-view of the-machine with portions cut away and in section;

Figure 4is a side view of the machine taken positeside shown inFigure-3 and Withparts in'se'ction, 1 y w 4 A Figure 5, is a detail partly in sectionshow;

:ing a portionof the mechanism, 7 1 v "l E'gure-g6isa sectionalviewjthrough; the

hubs ofone of the rotaryiframes, 1 l

Referring to the drawings, it will beseen that them'ach'ine comprises three main casings, A, B, :and These casings, as isapparent fro m an examination of Figures 1 land 2, are formed wlth acur'ved upper por tionpreferablysemi circulan'and with a rectangulari bott o m -po'rtion.'- ,The rectangular bottom portion of eachcasing is adapted to contain a liquid; intowhich the cans v are to provide mechanism for removingthe cansv successlvely from-one cage, and, successlvely Witl1in eachofthe casings, a rotary frame ispositioned'andfis composed of a plurality offangleirons l which arerigidly securedto a hubQ, as brought out most clearly in Fig fures 2,'f3, and 6. :The hubs 2 are. eachri'gi'dly "mounted upon a main. shaft 3 extending" through the machine. jTheangle irons 1 form.

side bars for the rotary framesand are'braced in any suitable manner as, V for examples-by means of th'epdiagonal braces (seeEigure 2) Further, each oftheangle irons or bars isfprovided with projecting fingers '4 (see.

Figure 3) which are composed of: folded metal strips,gas indicated, and whichjare lri g- V idly securedtoitheseangle irons.

v In addition to 'the'structure t us tar dis; closed, the angle irons ;lbare joined .attheir ends,by -means; of cross memb ers 5,v l'lhese cross-members are similarly provided with projecting fingers 6 (see Figures 2 and 3).

Adjacent the hub and spaced therefrom, there are other cross members 7 which are pro vided with fingers 8. The fingers are spaced apart a' sufficient distance to'rloosely receive the cans indicated by dotted lines and by the reference character 9. 1

The front casingf'A is provided: with an opening 10 throughwhich ithe cansaare received and similar openings;- are provided in the successive casings. v Q 7 7 The cans are received upon star wheels 11 rigidly mounted upon a'feeding shaft l2.

7, Aywhich mayforinstance b'e a pre-rinsing solution of any suitable type, that is to say, after the rotary frames-haveexecu'ted one complete revolution, the horizontally disposed can is discharged byimeans of fingers 18 (see Figurei) into thenext compartment I and received bythe horizontalportion ofithe frame in suchcompartment. "InP-thiscompar'tment, the cans 'are passed through an alkaline or washing-solution and after the frame has comp'leted a rcvoilutionfthe can is V discharged from th'e coinpartment B into the compartment C by means of the"fingers ,14

(see Figure 3)-'. =After -thecans have conipletedtheir trip through the hot; water car-' ried within the comp'artment O, they are re-- moved from such compartment by-means of the fingers 15', as showninjFigure 3fandare adapted to be lifted from the machine: If desired, the cans may be-treated with 'a blast ofhot air by any suitablem eans,"iiot ;shown.

- It is'to be'noted also that e'achtcompartment, A, B,'and is provided :with sprayingmeans for spraying the interior of the'can while the can is inyertical' position. "The spraying means may consist ofthe'nozzles .The' machine isso constructed that each of tluaiotary frames is completely filled with v cans," and at the cessation of a quarter turn,

the cans I are quickly moved from one com-j partment to the next and a new can entered intoithe compartmentA, and a completely "cleaned can discharged -fron ythe 'coinpart ment (1; In this'wayfth'e machine operates upon a large number of canssiniultaneously, although one can is fed "into and onefcanj is;

a removed from the machinei for eachjquarter revolution of the rotary frames.

suitable solution may be, employed; for any of the compartments?- -However, it i may be found advantageous to employ scalding water in the compartment '6 and to furnish steam from any suitable source, as by means of the pipe 19 to the nozzle 18.. An alkaline solution may be employed in the compartment B and a plain waterpre-rinsingsolution may be employed in the cornpartment A. The nozzle 1? is adapted to spray the alkalinevsolution into the interior of the can when it is in vertical position in the compartment B and the nozzle 16 is adapted to spray the pro-rinsing water or rinsing water into the interior of the can in vertical position in compartment A. These nozzles are supplied by means of pumps 20 and 21 (see Figure 4), such pumps being fed from the compartments A and B and being driven' in-any suitable manner as, for example, by means of the electric motor 22; I The driving mechanism for the machine as thus far described, may consist of'any suitable power transmitting mechanism as, for example,ith e pulley 23 '(see Figures 1 and which is adaptedto be rigidly connected to the shaft 24 by means'of the clutch 25,

such-clutch being controlled by the hand lever-26 (see Figure The shaft 24: carries asmzill pinion 27 which meshes with a gear 28' mounted'on a jack shaft 29. The jack shaft 299's provided with "a pinion 130' which meshes with a gear 31 carried by the crank shaft 32: The crank may be formed by means of a pin or bolti33carried by the gear 31, as-shown in" Figure Thisfcrank is connected by means ofan adjustable pitman 34: with a lever 85 carried' by a short rock shaft 36 (s'ee Figures-l and 3).-

The leve'r 35 is 10ose1y carried upon the rock 'sha'ft36an'd is provided with a spring pressed'pawl-3'Z (see Figur'eb). This pawl cooperatesl with a ratchet wheel 38 rigidly mounted upo'n'the shaft 36- and housed within a casing 39 forminga portion of "thele ver '35. Thus", the rock shaft 36 is given a step by step rotary motion as the crank 33' rotates. This shaft 36 rigidly carries a sprocket whe'eleo (see Figure '1) [which is connected by means of a chain'tl'with a smallsprocket wheel'42 rigidly carried by the main shaft 3. The ratio of the sprocket wheels lO'andl42 issuc'h that for-each complete'mo tionof the rockingflever'i35, the main shaft 3 is giveng'a; quarter turn. The parts-of the machine areso related that the cans come to rest in the positionindicated in Figure 2 for eachquarter turn;

Themechanism for operating the fingers V13, ljiand 15fi ayconsis't of rock shafts 43, 44,;and (see Figure 3) upon which levers 4l6,-"47, fand 748; are: rigidly mounted; The lever =,46'eXtends "above the rock shaft 43 and itsupwardlyprojecting end is connected by =means of a link 49 withapawl 50. The pawl 50 engagesa four tooth Ijatchetwheel 51 rigid'ly 'carried by the feeding shaft 12. r

is connected by'means of a pitman or rod.

53 with the'lever 35* In view of thetfact that the axis'about whichfthe levers 35 and 52 rock are at right angles, itjis apparent that some means must be provided for permitting this connection by means of the pitman 53, as described above. The upper end;

ofthe pitman 53 may have a ball and socket joint connection With the lever and the lower end of the pitman 53 may slide loose- 1y through a spherical ball 54 supported from the lever 52. Further, the stroke of the pit man is greater than the stroke of the. lever 52. It is preferableito provide a pair. of

spaced stops 55 upon the pitman 53 and upon opposite sides of the ball 54. i In additionto this, this construction insures a very quick motion for the feed shaft 12 foreach quarter 7 turn.

12 and of the fingers 13,14, and 15, is secured.

7 It is to be noted that thelevers46, 47 and 48 (see Figure 3) are connected by means of the connecting rod 56 so that they are all "simultaneously rocked and consequentlv simultaneous operation of the feeding shaft If desired, the machine may be provided with outwardly projecting curved arms 57 (see Figure 3) to receive the discharged can. The

operator lifts the dischargedlcan from these fingers after each operation. "Obviously,

can be provided without departing from the spirit of this invention. The operator is merely required to place upon the star wheels 7 11 one can at a time andthereafter the ma comp artment;

chine feeds this can in at the appropriate, time and the fingers13, 14, and 15 operate to pass cansfrom onercompartment to the next and to discharge one can from thelast passed from one compartment to the other, the fingers 13, 14 and 1 5 will return to their operative positions during the time the frames are rotating so thatwhen the vertical successive compartment isdisposed in-a horizontal. position, the fingers will be beneath the cans in these compartments, finger 13 being shown, in'dotted' lines in their operative position, so that the cans can be again moved forwardly as previously described. Itis apparent that if the operatorjfails to a place a can'upon the feed starwheels that "no damage is done to the machine. in additionyi to this, it is impossible with this construction to simultaneously feed tw'o cans into the machine at any one time. Thus, it is impossible to damage the machine by carelessness on the part'of the operator. i The machine is alsoad apted tohandle the can tops simultaneously with the cans, and these can tops are received between feet 58 of a 'continuous belt 59, suchbelt being carried 7 After the cans have been by the sprocket wheels 60 and-61, and being 63, 64, 65,and 66. The pipe 63 is fed with an alkaline solution from the pump 21. The

suitable source. The pipe 65 is sprayed with pipe 64-issuppliedjwithhot water from any steam ,from any suitablesource and the pipe 66 is supplied with hot air from any suitable source adapted to dry the can tops. The can topsare received from the continuous conveyor 59 by means of the curved discharge trough 67. This curved discharge trough is' provided with a closedend 68 againstwhich the can tops roll, and by means of which they.

are held until removed by the operator. The

operator'can easily lift the can tops 69 from this discharge trough. v 7 Further than this, in view ofthe factthat theconveyor projects beyond the machine (seethe right hand side of'Figure 4) it is also an easy matter for the operator to place the can topsupon the conveyor.

It will be seen'that 'a novel form of can washing machine has been provided by this inventi on; which is composed of a relatively smallnumber of parts, which is easy to oper-- ate, which-is substantially.fool-proof, and

washing of the cans. a I

Although the invention has been described which will secure a thoroughand adequate V in consi'derabledetail, such description is inothenmeans of receiving the discharged cans? tended as illustrative rather than limiting as l termined. as I claimed. '1 claim A can washing machine comprising a plurality of compartments adjacent to each other, a driven'shaft extending substantially horizontally through said compartments, p

means for imparting rotation to said shaft at predetermined intervals, a rotary frame mounted on'the shaft in eachof said compartments; means for "depositing cans on said.

frame in the end compartments'at the feed end ofthe mach1ne,'means for movingca'ns from the frame in one compartment to the frame inthe nextsucceeding compartment during the periods of rest of said frames, substantially horizontal fingers carried by each frame and positioned in pairs 'ateach' side and i at each end of the cans carried by each frame for supporting the cans in saidframe, and 19- ,me'ans for discharging the cans from the frame in the end compartment at the dis? charge endof the machine.

In testimonythat I claim theforegoin g I i have hereunto set my hand at Menomonee Wisconsin,- 7

- Falls, in the county of Waukesha and State of 3 iI Enivni N KRAUS E. a

Lav- 

